Nanotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes riddled with defects and impurities on the outside could replace some of the expensive platinum catalysts used in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, according to scientists at Stanford University.

Rice University scientists are set to lead one research team and are part of a second among the 23 awards announced by the Department of Defense (DOD) under its Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) program. The DOD grants total $155 million.

Current methods can tailor graphene, however, lack of real-time sensor feedback during patterning and cutting results in an open-loop manufacturing process. This greatly limits the cutting precision of graphene and reduces the efficiency of device manufacture. Therefore, a closed-loop fabrication method using interaction forces as real-time feedback is needed to tailor graphene into desired edge structures and shapes in a controllable manner.

The solar-powered system uses nanofiltration membranes to treat the local brackish water, resulting in high-quality desalinated irrigation water. The results of the Josefowitz Oasis Project indicate that irrigation with desalinated water yields higher productivity from water and inorganic fertilizers compared with current practices.

EU-funded researchers developed polymer blends and processing techniques facilitating recovery of scrap from industrial processes. Advances in this area have the potential to decrease costs and waste while protecting the environment.

The EU has awarded 4 million Euros to a new research project that will develop carbon materials to replace precious metals needed in catalysis. The research will help make the production of chemicals and commodities greener.

Researchers from Princeton University in New Jersey used atomic force microscopy measurements to study the adhesion interaction between Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria and colloidal silver, silver nanoparticles, and copper nanoparticles, as well as the interactions of the bacteria and the three different types of metal to porous clay-based ceramic surfaces.